What causes autism?

Mostly genetic.: More and more genetic links to autism and autism spectrum disorders (asd's) are being found; there's even genetic testing available for siblings of patients with asd's to see if they have it, too. Good studies have shown there's no link to vaccines.

Origin is elusive: Autism(a) and similar disorders have stumped researchers for ages. Recently, multiple fine defects have been found on micro array studies of the chromasomes of kids with a & asd. This suggests misplaced genetic material may be involved very early in fetal life.This could suggest envirnomental toxins prior to or during pregnancy.More credible studies are needed & less attention to junk science.

Vaccines: New studies in j toxicol environ health, 2011 & journal of inorganic biochemistry, 2011 did infer an association between autism and vaccines.

NOT vaccines: > 30 known genetic syndromes include autism and intellectual disability in their developmental profile + copy repeat errors are found on genetic microarray in ~15% of people with autism. Epigenetic factors like certain viruses & drugs change the function, but not the structure of fetal genes . Environmental factors may trigger the expression of these altered genes, like illnessess with fever.

We don't know.: Autism is a large group of individuals with many different specific diagnoses. Only about 30% of children with autism can be found to have a specific gentic disorder. More of these will be discovered in the future. There have been no definitive studies linking autism and vaccines. Most physicians recommend that all chidren receive their vaccinations in a timely manner.